August 11, 2008

How Pastors Feel on Sunday Night

I remember when I was growing up, my Dad, who was a pastor, would come home from our Sunday night service and put on a green pair of Bermuda shorts, a white t-shirt, grab a snack and veg out in his favorite blue chair. It didn't matter what was on TV, Dad would just sit there and stare. If you asked him he would tell you that this was his favorite time of the week. It was his opportunity to relax and unwind before the week got cranked back up and he had to do it all over again.

I don't think people understand how much energy it takes for Pastors to do what they do. It's funny, but I have people say to me from time to time, "It must be nice only having to work on Sunday." Ha...I laugh and think, if they only knew. Before I entered the ministry I didn't know. Now I do. Here are some of the things that make Sunday such a rigorous day for Pastors and explain why on Sunday night Pastors feel like the picture above.

Preparing And Then Delivering A Sermon With Passion. Just like anything else that you do on a consistent basis, sermon preparation and preaching can become a grind. I mean, when you aren't the pastor you can wake up Sunday morning and if you aren't feeling well or if you have had a fight with your wife or a tough morning with the kids, you can decide to forgo going to church this Sunday. When you are the pastor, it doesn't matter what is going on in you life, you are expected to show up and deliver a well thought out and passionate message. This is just part of the job and pastors know it is expected. But it isn't easy week after week after week.

Unmet Expectations. Every pastor that cares about the church he pastors has expectations. He has expectations about how he wants to perform. He has expectations about attendance. He has expectations about giving. He has expectations about his staff. He has expectations on how he thinks the service should flow. He has expectations about the life change that he would like to see take place. The list could literally go on and on. Now, sometimes every single one of the pastors expectations will be met and that makes for a "Great Sunday"....at least in his mind. But, sometimes his expectations aren't met. Maybe attendance is off, or maybe giving is down, or maybe someone criticized his sermon. Whatever the case may be, you can just bank on the fact that whenever the particular expectations of the pastor aren't met....he feels worn down.

Exhausted Emotional Energy. Part of being a pastor is listening. Sunday, because it is the day that "the Church" gathers corporately, is the day many pastor's have to listen the most. Sometimes they hear about unbelievable problems that people are going through. Sometimes they hear about how God has answered prayer. Sometimes they hear about where someone thinks the Church should be headed and what programs need to be tweaked or added. Sometimes they hear about what a great leader someone thinks they are. Sometimes they hear about what a lousy leader someone thinks they are. Most of the time they get a variety of all of the above. If a pastor cares about what people think, and most do, even when they say they don't, listening to everything people have to say is exhausting. Growing up my Dad would often say when he got home on a Sunday night that he felt like he had just dug a ditch. I would secretly laugh and think, how hard can it be? I don't laugh anymore.

Spiritual Warfare. The Message translation says in Ephesians 6:12 that "this is no afternoon athletic contest that we are in, but rather a life or death battle with Satan." As soon as an individual answers the call the be a pastor, that battle gets even more intense. I had people say to me prior to going into full time ministry that I needed to prepare myself for the adversary's attacks. I shrugged those comments off many times thinking, "how rough can it be." Well, I have since learned that the battle is far more intense than I ever imagined it to be. And one of the days the battle rages the most fiercely is Sunday. Anything that Satan can do to steal the passion, kill the joy, and destroy the momentum of a pastor, he will attempt to do it on Sunday morning.

Dad used to say to me, "Blake, if you aren't called into ministry, don't go. You won't last long." I didn't really understand what he meant. I do now! I love what I do and I thank God He called me but I still feel like my dog, Brandy on Sunday nights.